Cheltenham Town Women manager Tom Davies insists that last week’s 7-0 defeat to Ipswich Town won’t have an effect on their morale going into this weekend.
The Tractor Girls are unbeaten in the Southern Premier Division, having scored 32 goals across three games, whilst Sunday’s opponents Plymouth Argyle sit second bottom.
“Reality is that they [Ipswich and Cheltenham] are two clubs at different ends of the spectrum at the moment. They’re expected to win those games by those kinds of margins. We have to take the positives, we have to move on and get ourselves ready for this weekend,” Davies said.
Cheltenham started off their season with a 4-0 win against Plymouth at home, with Una Lue, Henna Butcher, Lacy-Jai Liggett and captain Emily Owen the goal scorers on the opening day in August.
However, Davies believes that result will have no bearing on the mentality heading into this weekend, with his side sitting just two points ahead of Argyle, three months on from their previous meeting.
“We don’t really take too much from that game, it was a long time ago. As much as we take pride in that performance and that result, it’s not something we’ve reflected on.”
Cheltenham have only won once in the league since beating Plymouth but have performed well in the cup competitions, beating Wolves Women 2-1 in the FA Women’s National League Plate.
Davies insisted that Plymouth will be a closer game in terms of table position and should hope to do the double over the Pilgrims.
It’s all happening in the mid-table ↕️
— FA Women’s National League (@FAWNL) November 11, 2024
There are just four points between fourth and eighth in the Southern Premier Division.#FAWNL pic.twitter.com/qZgcFVzjMd
“It’s our job over the next two, three, four, five weeks ago and earn the right to play. We need to be aggressive in those moments and really put a stamp on what we want our season to look like in the second half of this season.”
Davies will have “key midfielder” Doris Greenwood back in his squad after she missed the visit of Ipswich due to an ankle injury.
“She’s one of those players you don’t want to be injured,” Davies admitted; “She wants to be a part of it, she loves playing and being a part of everything. She’s gone through training this week there are no issues.
“She’s back and available, so it’s a great positive for us and who is a key player for us in these moments.”
However, Davies will be without fellow summer signing Jess Leach, who went down injured during the warm-up against Ipswich.
“Jess is a couple of weeks away. We’ve just got to see how that contact comes through and how the pain highlights itself. Then we will have an idea of what the time scale looks like, but we’re probably looking at post-Christmas.”
Cheltenham travel to Plymouth for a 2pm kick-off at the Kimberly Stadium on Sunday.
Click here to keep up to date with all of today’s news.
